1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coaxial cable stripper and more particularly to a coaxial cable stripper which is used to remove a specified length of covering from the end of a coaxial cable so that the cable can be connected to some other device.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, when a coaxial cable is connected to electrical equipment and/or parts, as seen in FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B), the end of the cable 100 is stripped so that the covering 100A is exposed.
FIGS. 5(A) and (B) illustrate the operating principle of one example of a conventional coaxial stripper. The stripper 101 shown in this example has a cable-holding part which consists of a male part 102 and a female part 103 that interlock with each other. Reference numeral 102A is the cable holding portion of the male part 102, and 103A is the cable-holding portion of the female part 103. A blade 102B is used to cut the covering of the coaxial cable 100 and is attached to the male part 102. Another blade 103B is attached to the female part 103.
In the above-described stripper 101, opposing force is applied to both the male part 102 and the female part 103 in the directions indicated by arrows "A" in FIG. 5(A). As a result, the cable 100 is clamped between the two cable-holding portions 102A and 103A with the cable-holding portions 102A and 103A overlapping as seen in FIG. 5(B). Accordingly, since the two blades 102B and 103B bite into the covering 100A of the cable 100, a cut is formed between the portion of the covering 100A that is to be removed and the portion of the covering that is to be left intact when the stripper 101 is rotated about the cable 100 in the direction indicated by the arrow "B".
Afterward, the tip portion of the covering 100A can be pulled off and removed by moving the stripper 101 toward the end of the cable with the cable 100 being held in the stripper as before.
Step-stripping can also be performed on a cable having a plurality of covering layers so that the layers are removed in a series of steps. Such step-stripping is done using strippers having cable-holding portions 102A and 103A with different diameters and depths and by varying the relative positions of the blades 102A and 103A. Thus, stripping is repeated successively by changing the cutting positions each time.
FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B) show another conventional stripper. Reference numeral 201 is a stripper, and reference numeral 202 is the main body thereof. A moving part 203 is combined with the main body 202 and moves in the direction indicated by the arrow "C". Reference numerals 202A and 203A are cable-holding portions. In this stripper, blades 202B are attached to the main body 202 only. The blades 202B (only one is shown in the Figure) consist of multiple blades which are positioned coaxially with respect to the cable 100, with a predetermined length of space between the blades.
The blades 202B are designed such that the amount by which the edges of the blades project into the cable-holding portion 202A is different for each blade. Accordingly, when the cable 100 is held between the main body 202 and the moving part 203 as shown in FIG. 6(B), the depth to which each blade cuts into the cable is different with the cutting depth increasing toward the edge of the cable 100.
The above described stripper 201 functions as follows: First, the cable holding part 202A of the main body 202 is positioning so as to cut the end of the cable 100. Then, force in the direction of the arrow "C" is applied to the moving part 203. Thus, a cut is made on the covering 100A of the cable 100 by the blades 202B as shown in FIG. 6(B). Then, the stripper 201 is rotated in the direction of the arrow "D". After rotating the stripper, the cut portion of the cable is pulled from the cable 100.
However, in such conventional coaxial cable strippers, "pull cutting" is always performed at the same location with each blade. As a result, stress is concentrated on the edge of each blade and chipping (i.e., blade nicking), tends to occur. Furthermore, since the thickness of the covering layers of cables tend to vary slightly, it is difficult to adjust the depths of the cuts. In addition, since the cable is clamped between the cable-holding portions of two different parts, there would be some discrepancy in the cutting depending on how firmly the cable is held.
In addition, the stripper shown in FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) cannot cut the end of a multi-layer covering into steps at a plurality of places at the same time. Accordingly, specified lengths that are to be cut from the respective layers must be adjusted along the length of the cable for each cut and this is very time and labor consuming.